1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temperature adjustment control apparatus that is used in a freezer car or the like that transports cargo in a specific temperature control state and in particular, a control apparatus for a cooling unit with a heating function, in which the cooling unit is provided with an integrated heating function and a multi-compartment temperature management apparatus that employs this cooling unit each of a plurality of storage compartments in a vehicle with a plurality of storage compartments, to perform individual temperature management for these storage compartments.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a vehicle that transports cargo in the known art is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication S58-145517. In this vehicle, a cooling unit is formed with a heat exchanger for cooling as part of the cooling circuit, and a fan that impels the air that has been heat exchanged in the heat exchanger for cooling to the space being air conditioned and, separately from this cooling unit, a heating unit is formed with a heat exchanger for heating which uses the engine cooling water as its heat source and a fan that impels the air that has been heat exchanged in the heat exchanger for heating to the space being air conditioned. The two units are located in the storage compartment.
However, in the structure described above, since the cooling unit and the heating unit are provided separately, a great deal of space is required. Also, switching between cooling and heating must be accomplished manually, with ON/OFF control of an electromagnetic valve. Consequently, when maintaining cargo at a constant temperature in changeable weather, the operation depends upon switching control at the discretion of the operator. Thus, there is a problem that temperature control at a constant temperature cannot be performed reliably.
Moreover, the structure in the prior art was designed on the premise that there is only one storage compartment in a vehicle. This presents no problem as long as only one type of cargo is being transported in large quantities. However, if there is only one storage space, as in the prior art, and if a number of different types of cargo, especially items for which different temperature control is required, are to be transported in small quantities, each cargo must be transported separately in small quantities and thus, transportation becomes extremely inefficient.